First Time New Gaming Build under $2k

[Rrowlf]

Hey All,
I'm putting a PC together and was wondering if I'm making a mistake with the build below. Cost right now is $1959.00. I plan on gaming with this (Crysis 2, DN Forever, ...) Is there anything that I shouldn't buy or should replace with a less expensive version? Should I get an SSD and a different hard drive? Should I swap the GTX 590 3GB for 2x GTX 560s?

http://www.pcusa.com/
Apex: [ Vortex 3620 ] ( Front USB, Audio, eSATA ), Black
Default case fans
Gamer Choice Standard Recommented Low Noise Silent System
aBX, 700W Power Supply [ PSU ]. Model: EP-700PM
Intel Core i5-2600K, LGA 1155, 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost), 8MB Intel Smart Cache, Quad-Core, 4x256KB Cache
Ultimate AI Booster Insane OC (Insane Overclock 30% or more ) [ Built-in Motherboard Overclock Utility wih BIOS Setup ]
Thermaltake CL-P0466 SpinQ CPU Fan Thermaltake CL-P0466 SpinQ CPU Fan For Intel LGA775/1156/1366 & AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/939/754 Thermaltake CL-P0466 SpinQ CPU Fan
GIGABYTE, USB-3, SATA-3, Intel Z68, CrossfireX/SLI, 16GB Max, RAID, GbLAN, Model: GA-Z68A-D3-B3
8G DDR3 at 2000MHz DDR3 Memory ( Corsair or Major Brand )
GeForce GTX 590: 3072 MB [ DirectX 11 Support ]
VelociRaptor 600G SATA-3 64MB Cache 1000RPM 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Standard Setting : Non-RAID
22x Dual-Format/Dual-Layer DVDRW Drive
High Definition 7.1 Digtial Surround Sound
Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
Window 7 Home Premium - 64 Bit Edition - DVD set

 

[sadams04]

Swapping that GTX 590 for a pair of GTX 580's would be a better bet. For gaming the 2500k will give you the same performance. Overclocked memory is overkill / overbuying. You are on the right track.... For $2000 the 2500k / 2600k and dual GTX 580's is the way to go. For comparison, a similar build below may help you out...

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500k - $215

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD Z68 20GB SLC SSD - $240

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 1.5v CL7 - $85

Graphics Card: 2 x Galaxy GTX 580 - $420 / $840 ($460 - $40MIR)

Boot Drive: OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III SSD - $210 ($230 - $20MIR)

Storage Disk: SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 2TB - $80

Case: Rosewill FUTURE Gaming ATX Mid Tower Front USB 3.0 - $80

Case Fans: 2 x COOLER MASTER 120mm Blue 69CFM (max) @ 19dBA- $10 / $20

Power Supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX950 - $140 ($155 - $15MIR)

Blu-Ray Burner: LG Black 12X - $94

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - $30

CPU Cooler Replacement Fans: 2 x KINGWIN 120mm 40CFM @ 19dBA - $7 / $14

$2048

 

[Why_Me]

Swapping that GTX 590 for a pair of GTX 580's would be a better bet. For gaming the 2500k will give you the same performance. Overclocked memory is overkill / overbuying. You are on the right track.... For $2000 the 2500k / 2600k and dual GTX 580's is the way to go. For comparison, a similar build below may help you out...

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500k - $215

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD Z68 20GB SLC SSD - $240

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 1.5v CL7 - $85

Graphics Card: 2 x Galaxy GTX 580 - $420 / $840 ($460 - $40MIR)

Boot Drive: OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III SSD - $210 ($230 - $20MIR)

Storage Disk: SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 2TB - $80

Case: Rosewill FUTURE Gaming ATX Mid Tower Front USB 3.0 - $80

Case Fans: 2 x COOLER MASTER 120mm Blue 69CFM (max) @ 19dBA- $10 / $20

Power Supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX950 - $140 ($155 - $15MIR)

Blu-Ray Burner: LG Black 12X - $94

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - $30

CPU Cooler Replacement Fans: 2 x KINGWIN 120mm 40CFM @ 19dBA - $7 / $14

$2048

+1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.691419 $339.98 save: $30.00 - $20.00 Mail In Rebates FREE SHIPPING
PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.689145 $234.98 save: $35.00
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL

 

[mjmjpfaff]

build it yourself. those places use suspect psu's and overcharge you.
why get 2 580's for 2000$ when you can get 3 6950's for that price?

CPU: i5 2500k- http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?p=I5-2500KBX&c=pw&hash=c6f1vzBgmiuMK7B3QplJbXIbnHcUR1CyoWGhesjYg2NNxpZ2XCyK7MWqokCnyPbwUb1AoqHY3INveRcD31le5nXI%2FGh%2BMAIhBuLvIZ9EmyV4%2B7xKHEEBAVPrrd6x 215$an i5 2500k gives the same performance as the 2600k in gaming

Motherboard: Asus P8P67 WS REVOLUTION http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-8P67WS3&title=Asus-P8P67-WS-REVOLUTION-LGA1155-Intel-P67-B3-Quad-CrossFireX-3-Way-SLI-SATA3-USB3-0-A-2GbE-ATX-Motherboard 255$

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 65$ 8gb's of 1600mhz cas9 ram is the standard

SSD: OCZ Agility 3 120gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227726&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=l0jrbm4i15vq 180$ after mail in rebates ssd's are way faster than 10k drives

HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1tb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 60$ fastest 7200rpm 1tb drive

Case: Antec DF-85 Full Tower case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129087 135$ after mail in rebates nice to keep those 6950's cool

PSU: OCZ ZX Series 1000W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341045 183$ shipped including mail in rebates tjhis will be enough power

DVD Burner: ASUS 24X DVD Burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 20$

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium OEM 64 bit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986 100$

CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185168&Tpk=scythe%20mugen%203 53$ shipped better than a hyper 212 plus

GPU'S: HIS IceQ X Turbo 6950 2gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161372 x3=720$ there is only 1 mail in rebate per customer so you might want to have your friends buy one have them send in the mail in rebates and reimburse them 240$

Total: 1986$
3 factory oc'd 6950 2gb's which beats a pair of 580's all day

 

[snakej]

Nice build mjmjpfaff, the only con i see with your build is that the path for upgrading may be cut off, then again this may not be a problem at all for the op, or other people, aside from that i would recommend gaming at more than 1920x1080 anything less your gonna bottleneck those cards, you would benefit the most from 2560x1600 as the scaling of Tri-way crossfire goes up with the resolution, except for some games which take no advantage of 3 cards like alien vs predator.. just some thoughts for the op if he decides to go this route.

 

[Rrowlf]

Thanks for the replies. Couple more questions:
Do I need to go with a 2500K if I don't overclock?
What would I go with if I wanted just one GPU? Doesn't 3 heat up incredibly more?
I'm probably going to run two monitors. Both are rated for 1920x1080. Don't think I can run the 2560x1600 res.
I'll be playing DNF, DA Origins and Awakening, and DDO initially. Crysis 2 when I get the time to add in another game.
Thanks again for the help.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

definitely oc. the 2500k is so easy to oc. you can get it up to 4.4ghz w/out even touching the voltage just upping the cpu multiplier to 44x.

3 heats up a lot because of lack of airflow. the df-85 gives a ton of airflow the cards should be fine

with 3 6950's you can run 5670x1080p easy.

 

[Rrowlf]

Sounds great! I'll run pricing and go for it. Hopefully overclocking is easy. Would be my first time for that too. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Rrowlf]

Best answer selected by Rrowlf.